CHAPTER 12 I DO NOT OWN NARUTO
Flashback Thoughts
A/N: I am writing this as I eat dinner (a peanut-butter, honey, and banana sandwich XD) b/c I swore I would write a new chapter by the end of the day. To everyone: I'm sorry for not updating sooner. Things got really messed up these last couple of months. I won't go into much detail here. (I put more detail in my profile) but I have been recently diagnosed with lupus and kidney failure. So now I take, like ten different meds and I have to get chemo once a month for the next 2 years. Though, now that things are getting better, I have decided to resume writing 'cause I realized that I would have been very sad if anything happened without finishing the story!
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Kakashi couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. I know I felt someone's chakra signature back in the woods. He shook his head and continued to run toward the damaged village. Kakashi and Naruto were in the lead, chatting about how best to repair a broken bridge. Naruto hung back to speak with Itachi as they reached the village.
Naruto leaned in to Itachi so as not to be overheard. "Man, this is gonna suck! We'll probably have to rebuild the whole bridge ourselves 'cause Kakashi-Sensei never really helps with fix-it missions!"
Itachi gave a chuckle despite himself. Kakashi spotted the village leader walked a few steps away to talk with him about the repairs. When he returned, he turned to the guys with a cheery smile that was apparent beneath his dark blue mask.
"SOOOoooo!! Why don't you two get started with clearing off what's left of the bridge while I go get more lumber?"
Naruto gave Itachi an 'I told-ya-so' glare before Kakashi disappeared in a smoke plume. Itachi began to follow Naruto over toward the river when he saw the village leader waving at them. Naruto gave the odd man a cheery wave, but something about him didn't seem quite right to Itachi. He couldn't shake the feeling that this place was strange and, somehow, familiar. He simply nodded at the man before getting to work and decided to keep his guard up for any other suspicious behavior.
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Kakashi sat lazily against a tree on the forest floor. Next to him was a large pile of wood, slit and ready to be assembled into the new town bridge. Since Naruto and Itachi won't be finished clearing the debris away for a while… He thought with a chuckle as he pulled his favorite book, Icha Icha Paradise, from his back pocket.
The copy ninja was shaken from the vision described in his adult novel by a slight tremor that travelled up the trunk of his tree. Kakashi lowered the book from his face and placed his palm on the ground, listening intently for any more disturbances. There was another tremor and Kakashi's visible eye widened momentarily before returning to its usual apathetic stare. He calmly leapt to his feet before taking off through the trees, leaving the wood pile behind.
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It was nearing sundown as Kakashi came out of the woods carrying the load of wood on his back. In one hand the jonin carried the string to hold the lumber, the other hand held his favorite book, Icha Icha Paradise. When he finally returned to the village, Kakashi could see Naruto glaring at him while Itachi simply seemed to look right through him. He quickly shoved the book in his pocket and sighed as his hand touched the piece of cloth he had come across in the woods. Itachi is not going to like this.
"My bad, guys! It took longer than I expected!"
"Whatever Kakashi-Sensei! It would take me forever too if I just decided to play by myself in the woods!" said Naruto indignantly.
"Actually, I had finished gathering the wood in about 20 minutes. But then I was distracted by this," He handed the ripped garment to Itachi. "It's Sakura's. I came to a clearing were it was obvious there had been a battle, from the looks of the landscape, I would say she put up a fight, but she was captured."
Naruto was clearly thunderstruck since he started running around in circles screaming "Sakura-chan, OH NO!! What're we gonna dooOOOOOOoooo!!" over and over again. Kakashi told the blonde to settle down and turned his attention to Itachi once more. Somewhat surprised that he hadn't said anything, Kakashi said, "I think we had best abandon this mission and head straight to the village. That way we can assess whether or not Sakura returned from her mission and set out to rescue her if we need to. I've sent Pakkun out to follow her trail so we won't lose footing if we need to track her down, but we should move quickly."
Itachi only nodded in agreement before taking off toward Konoha.
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Waiting for Naruto and Kakashi, Itachi was standing outside the Hokage's office, ready to leave. On the outside, it looked as if Itachi was his usual, indifferent, self, but his mind was racing on the inside. I knew there was something suspicious going on and I even thought I sensed someone in the woods! Why didn't I realize earlier? Why didn't I trust my instincts? He fumed. Itachi placed his hands over his eyes and sighed. I haven't been myself since my eyes were healed. Have I let my guard slip that much? And why?
He was broken from his thought by the arrival of Naruto and Kakashi. Both men had a worried expression on their face as they nodded a simple greeting. Itachi took that as the cue to leave and the three left the village at top speed.
The tree ninja fell into a triangle formation as they ran, heading back to the clearing were Kakashi had found Sakura's scrap of shirt. When they arrived, both Naruto and Itachi saw what Kakashi had; that a battle had clearly been fought here.
Itachi walked over to a puddle on the ground and leaned down to run his fingers over the water.
"There is definitely some chakra residue in this water, which means my old partner, Kisame, was here. He was probably the one that took Sakura. It's possible they were after me." He stood back up and walked a few steps further; ignoring the looks he was getting from Naruto. "They most likely would have taken her to the Akatsuki base."
Naruto was standing with his arms folded, getting more frustrated by the second. "So what does that mean for Sakura-chan?"
Itachi stared irately at the ground. "It means that my old 'family' would like to punish me for leaving them…"
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Kisame ran a hand through his coarse blue hair and stared at the unconscious form of the woman he just threw on the floor. Even in the dim candlelight in the windowless chamber, the wound on her stomach seemed painful, and in addition to her broken arm and various aches and pains, she would not be a happy camper when she woke up.
"He he, this girl was a pain in the ass to carry!" He said to Hidan, cackling.
His gray haired partner simply scoffed. "Whatever, at least you got to do some damage!"
"You kicked her for when she punched your face!" Kisame said with an evil grin.
"And what a punch it was!" he said rubbing his jaw. "So much pain, it was great!"
"Whatever, you sicko!" He said leading him to the door on the far left. "We've done our part, now it's up to Itachi-san's 'Loving brother' to enact our revenge. Or die trying."
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The two walked into the next room to see a shadowy figure leaning against the far wall. The figure dislodged itself from the wall and strutted over to the two cloaked men.
"He he, are you sure you don't want to keep that one tied up? She's kind of feisty!"
Sasuke gave the fish-man a smirk. "As if I need to worry about some worthless Kunoichi. In fact," He walked past the Akatsuki and reached for the door to his 'sister-in-law's' makeshift cell. "I'll go secure her right now."
"I assume you know we were followed. Not by a ninja, it smelled like some animal. I figured you wanted to leave Itachi a way to find you."
Sasuke gave another smug grin. "Well, what would be the point if our 'guest of honor' couldn't find his way to my trap?"
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Sakura cracked her eyes open and found herself lying on a hard-packed dirt floor. She tried to move around a little but discovered the fact that she was wounded in several places. Crap! At least I haven't been tied up, or this part would be difficult. Sakura moved her unbroken arm and brought it across her torn stomach. Her hand began to glow as the skin on her abdomen began to heal. One down…
Once she was done, Sakura turned her attention to her broken arm. She moved her newly fixed arm back and forth while clenching her fist until she was satisfied with her work. Her splitting headache on bruised back would have to wait; she wanted to conserve as much chakra as possible for emergencies. She stood up and walked around the room, taking note of the fact that she seemed to be underground, and there was only one door out.
The only objects in the room were a low wooden table with a single lit candle, a stool, and, oddly enough, her ninja supplies. Those Akatsuki either completely underestimate me! She thought with an angry growl, or they are totally stupid! You would think they would at least be wary after the fight I gave, she pouted, getting a little self conscious. I hit that one guy pretty hard! She took one last sweeping glace around the room before her eyes wandered to the ceiling. Nothing special except for the wooden rafters running horizontally to the door. A grin spread across Sakura's face as she began to formulate a plan. Those are going to be useful!
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The three Konoha ninja ran in silence on the trail Kakashi's dog had left. Since he didn't recognize the direction they were headed, Itachi was sure they were headed to a completely different location than his old base.
"Kakashi, I don't want to put down the stealth and tracking skills of your canine, but I think it's safe to assume that what awaits us is some sort of trap."
Kakashi let the comment about his Pakkun slide before responding. "I think your right, Itachi. But there's something else. Naruto! From what I've heard from Yamato, we're pretty close to…well. Does this place seem familiar to you at all?"
The blonde ninja was shaken out of his thoughts. "Huh? Familiar?" He picked up speed and jumped to some higher branches for awhile. After being in the lead for several minutes, the boy stopped dead in his tracks. Both Itachi and Kakashi caught up before stopping beside him.
"Your right, Kakashi-sensei." He said, turning to face them with angry tears pooling at the corners of his eyes. "This is near the place where Sasuke was rumored to be."
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Crouching in the rafters of her 'cell', Sakura was masking what was left of her chakra and positioned a kunai in a crack near where the wooden rafters met the dirt wall. If this went as she planned, Sakura would have not only the element of surprise, but a handy weapon as well. Her gaze was about to drill a hole in the wooden door separating her from her captors when the handle shook. Excellent! Enough of this waiting; I want to get outta here!
The door opened, it seemed, painfully slow. Sakura held her breath as a dark figure stepped, alone she noticed, into the room, closing the door behind him. She decided now was the time to put her plan into action, so Sakura slammed her Kunai into the indention between the wooden rafters, breaking it away from the wall and sending large chunks of wood and splinters into the air.
The figure below her raised his arms to his face to protect his eyes from the falling debris as Sakura leapt from her perch with her fist full of chakra. The figure began to lower his arms, revealing his silky black hair, hair that stuck up in the back, his handsome, boyish face, and piercing sharingan eyes. No way. Sakura was so stunned she stopped short of her target just long enough to give him time to react. He grabbed her chakra-infused fist and twisted it behind her, bringing her in close and fixing her with an icy stare.
"Sasuke-kun…"
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